HamsterW's cannon series (100 ton gun)

In 1876 the British gunmakers of Sir W. G. Armstrong of Newcastle upon Tyne offered to the Admiralty a gun weighing 102 tons with a bore of 17.76 inches but the British navy rejected it so Armstrongs sold the manufacturing rights to Italy who constructed several of these weapons and fitted four of them in each of their new battleships Duilo and Dandolo that were protected by 22 inches of steel.

The British now realised that these warships could stand off the Grand Harbour of Malta, impervious to the defending weapons and sytematically destroy eveything in and around the harbour. Almost panic–stricken, the British hastily commissioned guns of even greater calibre of at first 160 and finally 220 tons only to find that this specification was beyond the limits of the then manufacturing technology so swallowing their pride they ordered the 102 ton guns for both Gibraltar and Malta and these were the weapons that still stand at both places. They were actually manufactured at Woolwich Arsenal on the outskirts of London.

The gun required up to forty men to operate it under a battery commander and a master gunner with nine gunners. Twelve men dealt with ammunition, three the position finder and four the range finder. There was also a trumpeter, storeman, lampman and a fatigue man whilst a telephonist maintained contact with its twin at Fort Cambridge and a control station at Fort St Elmo. Besides the telephone there was back-up semaphore and signal mirror and it was intended that one gun should fire whilst the other was being re-loaded. The rate of fire was once every four minutes but when they tried to increase the rate at Gibraltar they split the barrel. It was never used in anger and was last fired for testing purposes on the 5th May 1905.

Gloria got a big kick out of your email Bob.. i'll have to do a post on it tomorrow and fill the troops in, it was funny, and to late to get into now.. All went well by the way.. they kept the needles out of sight till i was knocked out, and i guess ive got like 118 radioactive seeds in me, doc's talking cure, and alls well, except for the obvious sore "taint"..

a man has to hold his word, hold his beliefs, and hold a good sight picture.

Don't want to make to big of a deal outa this, and everybodys got problems, but i knew you guys were in my corner, and sending up some prayers.. They worked.. its REAL positive..and going to tell ya, going from "maybe" seeing the g-kids graduate 8th grade, to seeing them get married is WAY cool.. were feeling blessed!..and we are..

Plus i have a script for pain killers that should make me smile for awhile..

a man has to hold his word, hold his beliefs, and hold a good sight picture.

On the way home today (we stayed with the youngest for the procedure) Gloria and i were talking about how great it was not to have this hanging over our heads, and thinking about getting out of town for awile.. The whole NM thing sounds REAL good now.. by the way, do they have a target area at the center..that would be great..

a man has to hold his word, hold his beliefs, and hold a good sight picture.

My dad who is 87 got a new walker. He walks good but
his back gives him trouble so he uses a walker to help
him stand up straight. Anyway he gave me his old walker.
It had 6 inch wheels and he told me I can build a buggy
to haul my guns around with. Damn if I'm not working on a
gun rack to put on it and do just what he said.

A little rebellion is good medicine for the government
Thomas Jefferson

Actually things are going so great right now, i don't "need" anything.. were feeling pretty blessed around here buddy.. That being said, the thought of a walker being turned into a gun caddy did the trick.. That could be a neat little range item tho.. i can see a combination bench rest, and gun/ammo/target carrier.. You know your going to have to buy some green, brown, and tan spray paint.. This sounds like a better idea than the bowling ball mortar, that thing had me ducking for cover.. Tired guys... gona turn in, i'll see ya all tomorrow..

a man has to hold his word, hold his beliefs, and hold a good sight picture.

118 radioactive seeds! Jesus Christ, you sound like a nuclear suicide bomber! I can just imagine you trying to get on an airplane. You'd have the entire Phoenix Homeland Security force surrounding you.

"What's up with this guy?"
"Damned if I know, but we put a geiger counter next to his nuts and the motherfucker redlined, then it exploded!"

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. (Mark Twain).